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MOVIE REVIEW
While not exactly a golden rule, it is known fact that if a movie does well in the box office, chances are good that it will be followed by sequel and more often than not, we’ve come to expect that the sequel won’t measure up to the original. Add a third movie to the mix and you’re just asking for trouble. With animated movies, the expectations are often even lower. (Is anyone really surprised that the Ice Age movies keep getting worse?) But sometimes, as is the case with the Disney/Pixar Toy Story movies, we’re pleasantly surprised. Now you can add How to Train Your Dragon to that short list too.

One thing that DreamWorks Animation has understood about this series is that the story comes first, the hijinks come later. The very first Dragon movie proved that way back in 2010 with a strong story and with each chapter that has come after it, that story just keeps getting better. What started out as a cute kid’s story has become a powerful trilogy. We've seen these chara…

Spielberg, Disney and Dahl: A Great Combination

MOVIESToday, Disney released the teaser trailer for the upcoming The BFG coming to theaters next summer (see below) and it looks like it could be another great classic. The BFG, written by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach), is about Sophie (Ruby Barnhill), a little girl who is taken from an orphanage by a giant and brought to Giant Country. (Kinda makes you wonder why it wasn’t called Sophie and the Big Giant, but I digress…) The film is being directed by Steven Spielberg, which is a pretty big deal in the Disney universe.

“I think it was kind of genius of Roald Dahl to be able to empower the children. It was very, very brave of him to introduce that combination of darkness and light which was so much Disney’s original signature in a lot of their earlier works like in Dumbo,Fantasia,Snow Whiteand Cinderella, and being able to do scary, but also be redemptive at the same time and teach a lesson, an enduring lesson, to everyone, it was a wonderful thing for Dahl to have done, and it was one of the things that attracted me to want to direct this Dahl book,” says Spielberg.

The BFG (Big Friendly Giant), played by Mark Rylance, is sort of an outside in Giant Country. According to the press release, he stands 24-feet high, has enormous ears, has a keen sense of smell, is dim-witted and is a loner. This is in contrast to Bloodbottler (Bill Hader) and Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) who are even bigger (about twice the size) and eat humans. During Sophie’s visit, the BFG brings her to see Dream Country where he collects dreams and sends them to children. But as you can imagine, in a land of giants, all does not go well. Soon Sophie and her big buddy go to London to tell the queen (Penelope Wilton) and her maid (Rebecca Hall) that not only do giants exist, but they are on their way to attack London.

Published in 1982, The BFG is the Dahl book that hasn’t been adapted into a feature film. It was also Dahl’s favorite. Can you think of anyone better to handle this project than Spielberg and Disney? “It was very important for us to be loyal to the language,” says Spielberg. “It’s a story about friendship, it’s a story about loyalty and protecting your friends and it’s a story that shows that even a little girl can help a big giant solve his biggest problems.” Spielberg had writer Melissa Mathison, who wrote the script for E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, to pen the BFG script.

The BFG opens in U.S. theaters on July 1, 2016, the year that marks the 100th anniversary of Dahl’s birth.

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MOVIES
It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since everything was awesome, at least in the world of Lego as seen in the original Lego Movie. Since then Lego-themed movies have been released, none of which have been as popular, lucrative or received as much praise from critics as the original.

Now the gang is back in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part but everything appears to be less awesome as Bricksburg has become Apocalypseburg and is getting worse when this world is threatened by Lego Duplo invaders from outer space. Still, just like is real life, Legos can always rebuild.

It takes a lot of physical and CGI Legos to create a movie. Here is a breakdown on how that looks:

2: The number of characters Chris Pratt, Stephanie Beatriz and Alison Brie play in the film. (Pratt plays Emmet and Rex Dangervest, Beatriz plays General Mayhem and Sweet Mayhem and Brie plays Unikitty and Ultrakitty)

3: The number of times Will Arnett has voiced the role of Batman in a Lego movie.

TVAmerica’s Got Talent: The Champions brought back 50 of the best acts from the different world versions of the show to compete one more time for the chance to win a really impressive (or tall) trophy, $25,000 cash and pretty incredible bragging rights. The two-hour presentation began with an hour full of filler of past acts, silly bits and interviews with the dozen remaining acts hoping to win.

Soon the 12 was whittled down to five including ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer, sand artist Kseniya Imonova, card magician Shin Lim, singer Cristina Ramos and comedian Preacher Lawson. And during the show’s last five minutes of the show the winner was revealed.